The Lookout
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STARS > Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Isla Fisher, Matthew Goode, Greg Dunham DIRECTOR > Scott Frank [3/5] When high school hockey star/rich kid Chris Pratt (Gordon-Levitt of 3rd Rock From The Sun) crashes his speeding convertible into a farm vehicle, killing two friends, severely injuring his girlfriend and causing irreparable damage to his own brain, it's the first of many unexpected turns his previously privileged life takes: Ever since the accident, he's been prone to crying jags and shit-fits, he can't remember things, and he eventually gets a job as the night janitor at a local bank, where he gets roped into a robbery planned by a townie con artist and fellow ex-hockey player Gary Spargo (Goode). Such is the premise of screenwriter Scott Frank's directorial debut (before writing the scripts for Minority Report and Get Shorty, Frank got his start on TV's The Wonder Years), and it's a good one, even though the mentally-deficient-accomplice role has (presumably) been a tough road to hoe ever since Billy Bob Thornton's unforgettable performance in A Simple Plan. Still, The Lookout's mostly foreseeable plot is overshadowed by excellent performances from Gordon-Levitt and especially Goode, who imbues his role with a kind of vague menace that is difficult to achieve. Isla Fisher (the future Mrs. Sacha Baron Cohen) is perfect as the stripper-siren Luvlee, who seduces Chris into the heist by playing a considerably saner, more compassionate version of the dippy sexpot she conjured up for The Wedding Crashers. All in all (considering Frank's first-time director status and the dicey territory presented by portraying people with mental handicaps) The Lookout ends up being a totally decent movie that transcends the heist genre. -J. Bennett |
